NURIA PARRIZAS-DIAZ

It’s been almost two full decades since this many U.S. men reached Week 2 at the Australian Open.

The talk of tennis — and beyond — for most of the past three weeks has been about Serena Williams and her announcement that she is planning to stop playing professional tennis.

Canada Toronto Tennis Serena Williams, of the United States, returns the ball during a match against Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, of Spain, during the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Toronto, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP) (Christopher Katsarov)NEW YORK — (AP) — Serena Williams says she is ready to step away from tennis after winning 23 Grand Slam titles, turning her focus to having another child and her business interests. "I'm turning 41 this month, and something's got to give," Williams wrote in an essay released Tuesday by Vogue magazine. The American has won more Grand Slam singles titles in the professional era than any other woman or man. ___More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2022 The Associated Press.

TORONTO — (AP) — Serena Williams earned her first win in more than a year Monday, beating Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 6-3, 6-4 at the women’s National Bank Open. It’s just the second tournament of the season for the 40-year-old Williams, who returned to competition at Wimbledon just over a month ago. Before then, she last competed at the 2021 Wimbledon tournament, where she retired in the middle of her first match due to a torn hamstring suffered after slipping on the grass surface. Williams' first victory since the 2021 French Open sent her to face the either Belinda Bencic or Tereza Martincova. Williams found her rhythm, mixing solid touch with her signature power and putting shot after shot out of Parrizas-Diaz’s reach.

Defending champion Naomi Osaka didn’t make it to a much-anticipated fourth-round contest against top-ranked Ash Barty at the Australian Open.